JPS60188238A - Method of transferring rod-like article at high speed and device therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make the transfer of rod-like articles smooth at a high speed, by continuously feeding the rod-like articles such that they are made in contact with each other on a horizontal path, and then by dropping them under gravitation through a vertical path connected to the horizontal path so that the rod- like article are fed onto a grooved rotary drum, being spaced from each other. CONSTITUTION:Rod-like articles 1 are stored in a magazine 2, and are dropped into a small chamber 3 under gravitation. Then, since a roller 8 is rotated in the direction of the arrow 9, the rod-like articles 1 in the small chamber 3 are rotated in the same direction as that indicated by the arrow 9. Further, an endless belt 10 is driven by means of a drive roller 11 in the direction 15, and therefore, the rod-like articles 1 are lined up in one row by means of a horizontal path 17 and are transferred to the outlet port of an arucated path 18. Then, the rod-like articles 1 are dropped under gravitation through a vertical path 19, and therefore the spaces of the rod-like articles therebetween are widened due to acceleration exerted thereto during dropping. The rod-like articles 1 discharged from the vertical path 19 are held in grooves 22 in a drum 21, and are transferred in the direction of the arrow 23.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for high-speed feeding of rod-shaped articles, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for high-speed feeding of filter plugs in cigarette manufacturing machines.

In recent years, cigarette manufacturing machines have become increasingly faster, and are now required to produce 8,000 cigarettes per minute or more. Since filter plugs are normally supplied to cigarette manufacturing machines in lengths that are six or four times longer than those used as products, the equipment that takes out filter plugs from the magazine must have a processing capacity of over 2,000 pieces per minute. be done.

One method for taking out the filter plugs from the magazine is to provide a passage at the bottom of the magazine, arrange the filter plugs in a row, allow them to fall by gravity, and send them one after another to the process. However, with this method, it is impossible to feed filter plugs at a rate of 1700 pieces/min or more because the acceleration of gravity is constant.

Therefore, as a method to improve this problem and enable high-speed feeding, a forced feeding means using a suction belt or a suction roller has been proposed as shown in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 132969/1983. However, in this method, the filter plug contacts the suction heald or suction roller at a single point on its circumference, and a large amount of air at high vacuum pressure is required to generate an effective conveying force. There is a drawback that the conveying force is reduced due to clogging of the holes.

In addition, as another improvement proposal, U.S. Patent Specification No. 35034
．． As shown in No. 8.8, a method has been proposed in which the filter plug is transported by a high-speed heddle without using gravity at all, but in this case, it is necessary to compress the filter plug strongly by the belt during transport. In addition, there is a drawback that the filter plugs are in close contact with each other during transportation, and are compressed and deformed at the exit of the transportation path, which distorts the perfect circle and causes trouble in subsequent processes.

The present invention has been made by focusing on the above-mentioned points, and the present invention has been made by focusing on the above-mentioned points.
It is intended to take out the bar-shaped article at a high speed of 0.00 pieces/minute or more and feed it to the grooved rotary drum in the next process without deforming the bar-shaped article or clogging the conveyance path.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a device according to the present invention attached to the lower part of a magazine 2 that accommodates a large number of filter plugs 1. As shown in FIG.

Adjacent to the bottom of the magazine 2 is a small chamber 3 that accommodates a small number (50 to 60 filter plugs) of the magazine 2.
There is an arc-shaped flat plate 5 that forms the left side wall of the small room 3, which is continuous with the flat plate 4 that forms the left side bottom of the magazine 2, and similarly, there is an arc-shaped flat plate 5 that forms the left side wall of the small room 3, which is continuous with the flat plate 6 that forms the right side bottom of the magazine 2. There is an arc-shaped flat plate 7 forming the right wall.

A roller 8 is provided approximately in the center of the small room 3 and is configured to rotate in the direction of an arrow 9. An endless belt 10 is provided at the bottom of the small room 3 and is adapted to move around a drive roller 11, a guide 12, a roller 13, and a roller 14 in the direction of an arrow 15. The endless belt IO is substantially horizontal between the drive roller 11 and the roller 13, and the horizontal portion is supported by the guide 12.

A guide 16 is provided above the endless belt 10, and forms a horizontal passage 17 through which a row of filter plugs 1 are drawn in from the small chamber 3 and transported continuously. Continuing from the horizontal section, the guide 16 has a section 90 concentric with the roller 13.
It has an arc of .degree. and forms an arc passage 18. Guide 16
continues to be substantially vertical and extends close to the outer peripheral surface 24 of the grooved drum 21. Corresponding to the vertical portion of the guide 16, a guide 20 is provided which is adapted to define a vertical passage 19 with a gap slightly wider than the diameter of the filter plug 1.

A grooved drum 21 is provided below the vertical passage 19, and the filter plug 1 sent out from the vertical passage 19 is sequentially a
22 and transported in the direction of arrow 23.

The operation of the device according to the invention is as follows.

The filter plugs 1 housed in the magazine 2 descend downward under the action of gravity and successively enter the small rooms 3. Since the roller 8 is rotating in the direction of the arrow 9, the filter plug 1 between the roller 8 and the flat plate 7 is accelerated downward.

The filter plug 1 located between the roller 8 and the flat plate 5 is lifted upwards.

This results in a filter plug located inside the chamber 3.

The endless heald 10 is moved by the arrow 15 by the driving roller 1.
As a result, the filter plugs 1 in the lowermost layer of the small chamber 3 are transported toward the entrance of the horizontal passage 17, and are carried in a line by the horizontal passage 17 to the exit of the circular arc passage 18. As mentioned above, since the filter plugs 1 in the small chamber 3 are rotated clockwise by the rollers, rows of filter plugs with no gaps can be easily layered on the endless belt 10. It is formed. In addition, the filter plug 1 that has not entered the horizontal passage 17 easily moves upward as the filter plug rotates clockwise, so that the excess filter plug 1 is compressed at the entrance of the horizontal passage 17. occlusion is prevented.

The filter plugs 1 that have been conveyed at a constant speed to the upper part of the vertical passage 19 are accelerated by gravity in the vertical passage 19, and the distance between the filter plugs 1 gradually increases as they fall through the vertical passage 19. . The filter plug 1 emerging from the vertical passage 19 enters the groove 22 of the grooved drum 21, is held by the action of vacuum pressure through a hole (not shown) provided at the bottom of the groove 22, and is conveyed in the direction of the arrow 23. be done.

During the entry of the filter plug 1 into the groove 22 of the grooved drum 21 and movement in the direction of the arrow 23, the circumferential surface 24 is reached and the outer circumferential surface 24 is moved until the subsequent groove 22 reaches just below the vertical passage 19. I ended up rolling around on top of it waiting. It will be easily understood that in order for the filter plug 1 to wait in this manner, the filter plug 1 is compressed and deformed at its outlet, thereby blocking the outlet, as described above.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of another embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention. Components common to those in FIG. 1 are numbered the same, and components that have been changed and correspond to those in FIG. 1 are numbered by adding 100.

In the device shown in FIG. 2, the structure and operation up to the arcuate passage 18 are exactly the same as those in FIG. 1, and therefore will not be described.

In this embodiment, the lower end of the vertical portion of the guide 116 is shortened and the air nozzle 126 is mounted close to the outer diameter of the grooved drum 121.

Further, the outer circumferential surface 124 of the grooved drum 121 is shortened from an arc shape to a straight line shape, and has an inclined surface 125 that descends almost linearly toward the rear.

In this device, while the filter plug 1 that has entered the groove 122 of the grooved drum 121 is being transferred in the direction of the arrow 123, the following filter plug 1 gradually descends along the slope 125 and enters the groove 122. It was designed to be done. As the filter plug 1 moves down the slope 125,
Since the gap between the guide 116 and the filter plug 1 becomes wider, it becomes easier for the filter plug 1 to pass under the guide 116.
An air nozzle 126 is provided at the lower end of the filter plug 6 to blow compressed air to push the filter plug l backward.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 2 can respond even faster than the embodiment shown in FIG.

Since the present invention is constructed as described above, it is possible to take out a rod-shaped article such as a filter plug from a container at high speed, and at the same time, it is possible to remove the rod-shaped article from a grooved rotating drum without causing deformation or clogging of the conveyance path. It has the feature that it can be sent without any trouble.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of another embodiment of the same. 1... Filter plug (rod-shaped article), 2...
...Magazine (container), 10...Endless Held, 16...Guide, 17...Horizontal passage, 18...Circular passage, 19...・・・・・・
Vertical passage, 21... Rotating drum with grooves. Patent Applicant: Japan Monopoly Public Corporation Michio Nakayama, Designated Agent of the Director of Research and Development, Japan Monopoly Public Corporation

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A feeding method in which rod-shaped articles are taken out as a continuous stream from a container containing the rod-shaped articles and sent sequentially into the grooves of a grooved rotating drum, and a vertical passage is provided continuous to the transfer passage; In the transfer path, the rod-shaped articles are continuously transferred in a state in which the front and back are in contact with each other, and the rod-shaped articles are allowed to fall naturally in the vertical path, so that the rod-shaped articles reach the grooved rotating drum in a separated state. A method for high-speed feeding of rod-shaped articles. (2) A feeding device that takes out the rod-shaped articles as a continuous stream from a container that accommodates the rod-shaped articles and feeds them sequentially into the grooves of a grooved rotating drum, and an endless belt is provided at the bottom of the container that accommodates the rod-shaped articles. A substantially horizontal transfer path is provided by the endless heald and the guide above it, and a vertical falling path that reaches the grooved rotating drum via an arcuate path is continuously provided in the horizontal transfer path. A high-speed feeding device for rod-shaped articles. (3) A feeding device that takes out the rod-shaped articles as a continuous stream from a container that accommodates the rod-shaped articles and feeds them sequentially into the grooves of a grooved rotating drum, and an endless heald is provided at the bottom of the container that accommodates the rod-shaped articles. A substantially horizontal transfer path is provided by the endless belt and a guide above it, and a vertical drop path is continuously provided in the horizontal transfer path that reaches the grooved rotating drum via an arcuate path, and the vertical drop An air nozzle is provided near the outer diameter of the grooved drum at the lower end of the passage, and the outer circumferential surface between each groove of the grooved drum is formed as an inclined surface that descends substantially linearly toward the rear. A high-speed feeding device for rod-shaped articles.